Chapter 188: The Stray Dog Meets Five Queens, and None of Them Want to Bow

The room waited for Natalia.

She didn’t move at first. Just stood there, arms crossed, staring at the far wall like she hadn’t heard a single word of the last ten minutes. Then, with the deliberate grace of a queen ascending her throne, she walked directly to my side.

She stood close. Close enough that our shoulders brushed. Close enough that anyone with eyes could read the statement she was making.

"Natalia Kuzmina. Psychic Dominion."

Her voice was ice water poured over silk. Cool. Controlled. Lethal.

She finally turned to face the room, her purple eyes sweeping over them with the kind of dismissive assessment you’d give to livestock.

"And he’s not wrong."

Emi’s face fell. Just a fraction, but I saw it.

Natalia gestured toward me with the smallest, most imperious tilt of her head.

"Friendship is a liability. Results are what matter." Her words were measured, each one a calculated strike. "I didn’t follow the Number One prospect to the bottom-ranked guild to hold hands and sing campfire songs. I came here to win. And I will align myself with whoever gives me the best chance of doing that."

She had just publicly declared her loyalty. Not to the guild. Not to the ideal of teamwork.

To me.

She’d framed it as ruthless pragmatism, mirroring my own speech, but everyone in the room could see the truth. The Queen had chosen her King.

I looked at her. Let a slow, genuine smile spread across my face for the first time since we’d walked through those doors.

Pride.

Akari’s emerald eyes narrowed, flicking between Natalia and me. That shark’s smile returned to her lips.

"Well, well." She prowled closer, hips swaying. "Looks like someone’s already picked her seat at the high table." Her voice was sugar over broken glass. "Tell me, Kuzmina-chan, do you always follow boys who tell you you’re disposable? Or is that a special service reserved for the Number One?"

Natalia’s eye twitched. "I’d watch your tone, Miyamoto. Unless you want a demonstration of what disposable actually looks like."

The air between them crackled. Literally. Purple sparks danced around Natalia’s fingertips. Gold light shimmered in chains around Akari’s wrists.

Carmen took another long pull from her bottle.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun," she muttered.

Isabelle finally spoke, her cultured voice cutting through the tension like a knife through silk.

"Fascinating." She rose from her chair with the kind of deliberate grace that made everyone else look like they were stumbling drunk. "You reject the concept of friendship, yet you’ve already established a clear power hierarchy and alliance structure within the first five minutes of meeting your guildmates."

She walked toward me, each step measured. When she stopped, she was close enough that I could see the depth of intelligence in those wine-red eyes.

"That suggests you understand that human beings are fundamentally social creatures who require bonds, even if you refuse to call them friendships. You’re not actually a lone wolf, Nakano. You’re a pack leader who’s too proud to admit it."

Damn. She’d dissected my entire speech in thirty seconds and found the contradiction at its core.

I held her gaze.

"Maybe. Or maybe I just understand that a king doesn’t ask for friendship. He commands loyalty. And there’s a difference."

Isabelle’s lips curved into the faintest suggestion of a smile.

"Indeed there is. And which do you believe is stronger when faced with the crucible of a real Gate?"

Before I could answer, Hikari bounded between us, that unsettling permanent smile stretching even wider.

"This is so cool! It’s like a philosophy debate! But with, like, actual stakes!" She pumped her fist. "I love it here already! Everyone’s so intense!"

She turned to me, head tilted, and asked with the innocent curiosity of a child holding a grenade.

"Satori! What’s your type?"

The room went silent again for an entirely different reason.

"My... what?"

"Your type! You know, in a partner!" She bounced on her heels. "Jaime taught me that asking someone that question tells you everything about their soul! So what’s your type?"

Akari covered her face with one hand. "Hikari, for the love of—"

"No, no, I want to hear this." Skylar finally looked up from her phone, purple eyes glinting with amusement. "Mr. ’I’m Too Cool For Friendship’ over here. What kind of girl catches the Stray Dog’s attention?"

All eyes on me. Again.

Wonderful.

I glanced at Natalia, whose expression had gone carefully, dangerously neutral. The Liar’s Brooch was a reassuring weight against my chest.

"The kind who can keep up," I said simply.

Jaime nodded sagely, like I’d just revealed the secrets of the universe. "A seeker of equals! A man who wishes to be challenged! This is good, Satori! This speaks to a warrior’s heart!"

"Or a control freak who can’t handle someone smarter than him," Skylar drawled.

I turned to her, that bored little goth princess with her bubblegum hair and dead eyes.

"You’ve got something to say, Bubblegum?"

She stood, stretching like a cat. Walked right up to me, invaded my space the same way Akari had earlier. But where Akari was all heat and seduction, Skylar was cold assessment.

"Just thinking it’s interesting. You talk a big game about not needing anyone, but you’ve already got..." She made a show of counting on her fingers. "...a second-in-command publicly declaring allegiance, a healer who looks at you like you shit gold, and a pink-haired combat monster who you carried around like a prize."

Soomin made a strangled sound of embarrassment.

"That’s not friendship, sure. But it’s definitely something. So what do you actually want, Number One? Power? Recognition?" Her voice dropped. "Or are you just scared of being alone again?"

The room held its breath.

I smiled.

"That’s a pretty good read for someone who just met me." I leaned down slightly, meeting her at eye level. "You’re sharper than you look."

"I’m aware." She didn’t back down an inch. "And you didn’t answer the question."

"Because it’s the wrong question." I straightened. "What I want is simple. I want to never be powerless again. Everything else is just a means to that end."

Skylar studied me for another long moment, then shrugged.

"Fair enough. Just don’t expect me to worship at the altar of your ego. I’ve seen enough fake messiahs in my life."